Why can't I submit a W8-BEN form as an individual?
Based on our understanding, due to the nature of the services provided by the Google AdSense program we cannot accept a W-8BEN form from an Individual.
If you are a nonresident alien individual who earns revenue through our AdSense program, this revenue is characterized as payments for personal services. Therefore, as stated in the instructions to the Form W-8BEN, you must complete the Form 8233 rather than the Form W-8BEN if you believe that you are entitled to an exemption from U.S. income tax withholding on AdSense payments by Google.
However, before you resubmit a Form W-8 or a Form 8233 we recommend that you review the description of US Activities below to confirm that you do have US Activities and are submitting the correct IRS form. If you do not have US Activities, you will not need to submit any tax forms.
United States (US) Activities involve having employees or owning equipment in the US that are involved in any way with revenue earned through the AdSense program. This includes, but is not limited to, owning a web server or owning a hosting service in the US, or having employees in the US who are involved in either:
- setting up a web server, hosting service, or website
- developing content for your website
- marketing to create a user base for your
- telephone support for your site
- buying products for your site
- maintaining your site
Generally, utilizing an unrelated third-party US web hosting service to host your webpages, renting web servers that are located in the US from an unrelated third party, or having your payment sent to a US Post Office Box or mail forwarding address, do not of themselves constitute US Activities.
If you do not have US Activities, please click on the Foreign Publisher with no US Activities link and agree to the statement on that page. In this case, no tax forms are required.
If you do have US Activities, please follow the instructions on the Tax information page to update your current form, or to submit a new form.
Please note that the tax information collection interface and any tax-related information provided by Google is not intended as and should not be construed as legal, tax, or investment advice. You should always consult your tax advisor to help answer specific questions regarding how tax laws apply to you and/or your business. The tax summary we have provided is necessarily incomplete, and the tax laws and regulations are subject to change. Therefore, Google does not guarantee and is not liable for the accuracy or completeness of any tax information provided, or any results or outcome as a result of the use of this information.
